Crystal,There is no...or at least should be no...stigma attached to having Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. It is certainly not a mental illness. A very few lucky ones don't even realize they have it until significant joint pain later in life. If your grandmother and grand aunts lived past 60 and didn't suffer pain, that's great; they probably didn't have it. But there's no need to be defensive about the inquiry. Lots of smart, competent, and graceful people have EDS; unfortunately, we don't get to stay mobile very long past our 40's.

As this video is circulating around Facebook, everyone in the Ehlers-Danlos forums are thinking they have it. A lot of us are just as flexible. (takes one to know one sort of thing). Were just curious how their joints held out later in life when they weren't so active. Their muscle tone probably helped.... Many people have this condition, but it goes undiagnosed. Flexibility is just one sign of it. It's genic so if anyone in this family has any medical issues, they might want to look into it.

Are any of them still living? What was thier quality of life after 40 ...Eds is not a mental issue and most ppl dont know they have it. Im sure back then it would have have been a diagnosis that ppl got. Im 34 and can still do the things they did in the video. Its not good for those of us to do with EDS but I just got diagnosed a yr ago before that I had never heard of EDS and didnt know that the things I can do where from EDS I thought it perfectly normal for ppl who stretched. I would place my money on EDS...is any of their off springs flexible?

About Me

Originally a traditional internist, I became a hospitalist in the early days of the “movement.” I'll be writing about clinical topics, mainly in hospital medicine. Occasionally politics and other stuff creep in. This content does not constitute medical advice (consult your physician) nor is it authoritative (check primary sources).